Dark New Day

An interview with guitarist Clint Lowery
CD: New Tradition
Record Label: Goomba Music
Artist's Facebook
by Aaron ManogueJanuary 2012

Since 1994, his music has pierced the impervious veil of hard rock and created a sound all its own that’s as recognizable as zebra at a horse farm. If you are a fan of rock n’ roll or even simply a fan of musicianship, you can’t help but admire the body of work he’s put together over his long career. His musical portfolio is so diverse that you would think there’s no way the same person created it. From the soul searching lyrics and soft guitar riffs of Hello Demons Meet Skeletons, to the undeniable ass kicking each Sevendust record brings, Clint Lowery has been part of it all. Clint’s incredible talent coupled with other amazing musicians such as Will Hunt (Evanescence), his brother Corey Lowery (Eye Empire), Brett Hestla (Virgos Merlot) and Troy McLawhorn (Evanescence) has created yet another monster, with Dark New Day’s release of New Tradition. Maximum Ink’s Aaron Manogue spoke with Clint about the new record, his upcoming project with Morgan Rose titled Call Me No One and what it’s like to work with his brother Corey again.

Maximum Ink:Talk to me about the new record.Clint Lowery: Oh man, it was great. This is a lot of B-Side stuff and stuff that we worked on at the end of the first Dark New Day cycle, for Twelve Year Silence. These are songs that we were actually writing years ago so we haven’t been back in the studio recording in years. This is kind of just something we wanted to release to the fans that we thought were pretty legitimate songs. We just remastered them and tweaked them up a bit in the studio.

MI: Things have changed a bit for the bands over the past few years with the successes of the individual members in their other bands. Where things any different with the guys?CL: Well, we haven’t really been together since this. We just kind of talked on the phone and sent emails and maybe ran into each other a few times since we’ve talked about re-releasing this stuff. We’re all bro’s and we’ve all learned a lot but as far as collaborated on anything new, we haven’t done it. We’re just going to see how this does and then maybe we’ll go in and do another record together at some point.

MI:Weren’t there songs you were recording for an unreleased album called Hail Mary?CL: Yeah. There were songs that we were actually recording for Warner Brothers (Records), that for whatever reason, because we were doing different bands and doing different things, they didn’t want to get behind it so it sat on the shelf for a long time. We kind of waited for the smoke to clear from that and the contracts and stuff and we wanted to revisit some of these old songs that we did by ourselves without Warner Brothers. Some of the songs are the same that were on that Hail Mary record but better versions of them.

MI: Was it hard coming up with a few different songs that blended well with those songs to make the record flow better?CL: Yeah, I mean, we had a big pile of songs and we have enough to release two records, three records. We just kind of went through and picked all the common songs that everyone liked and we felt were a good representation and plus, try to stay away from songs that were recorded for Hail Mary. We kind of did a sophomore release and let people buy them on Itunes and that kind of thing but we really wanted to basically find the songs that weren’t heard by anyone and get that to the fans that kept asking for a Dark New Day record.

MI: Throughout the entire album you can hear everyone’s trademark sound from your guitar to Will’s (Hunt) drums and so on. Was it hard to blend such distinctive sounds into a record and still make it flow?CL: In that particular band, it was pretty easy man. We all really have a lot of respect for each other and at the end of the day we love each other styles. That’s part of the reason we wanted to start a new band because we really collectively have the same wavelength going on. We really feel like stylistically that we blend well together. We don’t clash too much because we all want the same thing. Some bands are four or five very creative guys but they all want to do different things, but with us we all wanted the same kind of sound, the same kind of vocal. Obviously there were a few things that we wanted different but for the most part it’s a pretty good give-and-take relationship.

MI:Are there any plans coming up for Dark New Days to get out on the road together?CL: Yeah, we’re actually going to try and do a couple shows in March maybe. We have to find the holes because obviously each of us are very busy in our own projects that pay the bills. We’re definitely going to wait for the record to come on, the 28th of February and do some shows to support it and hit wherever we can.

MI: There’s been a ton of anticipation and buzz about your new project with Morgan (Rose), Call Me No One. What can you tell us about it?CL: Well, we go in Sunday to start writing and recording and we have a few songs that we’ve demoed out. The direction is going to be, I don’t know, I think we’re trying to put our minds into a style that is going to be a little different than Sevendust. The point of this is to express a different side of what we have going on musically and my voice is different than L.J.’s. I think it’s going to be a darker, kind of Foo Fighters thing, man. I really love what Dave Grohl does in songs and he’s a big influence. I think there’s other things that are going to be in as far as the Nine Inch Nail influence and programming, you know? We’re going to develop the sound and we’re going to have a guitar player that will tour with us and play. We haven’t announced anybody yet. As far as the band so far, it’s Morgan and I and we’ll pull in a couple different people when the times right. Again, we’re still developing the sound and we’re very excited about going and doing it and I’m excited about singing. Morgan is going to be very much a part of the process, he’s my partner in it. We’ve been talking about doing it for years and here we are, finally doing it.

MI:That’s kickass! There has been so many questions about that project it’s exciting to hear some more details.CL: There’s going to be a very, I don’t want to say heavy, but it’s going to be a hard record. It’s going to be very up-tempo, very opposite of the Hello Demons (Meet Skeletons) thing. It will be very in your face and very good live songs. I don’t want to say it’s going to be metal, but it’s not going to be a hard rock record either. We’re just going to try and make it intense.

MI:You mentioned HDMS and all your other projects. How do you manage to balance such a huge workload with all of your musical projects and still manage to have time with your wife and child?CL: It’s hard, man. Right now I’m only spending a few hours a day down in my basement just pouring over ideas. I tried the last Hello Demons thing in my basement. It’s something that my wife supports. She knows I want to be creative and at the same time there’s a lot of hours in the day, man. If I had a nine-to-five job I would be gone eight hours a day and then come home. I try and apply that same ideal to my music. I don’t spend eight hours down there, I spend maybe five or six and I get stuff done and go home and spend time with my family. You’ve got to provide for your family and I love creating music and I don’t know how to do anything else.

MI: What’s it been like to get some time to work with your brother Corey (Eye Empire)?CL: I love working with him, man. He’s probably my best friend on the planet and we’re always going to do stuff together. He helped record the demos that got us the green light from the record label to release it. He’s always been an important part of the process. You know, he’ll be on tour while we’re recording so he can’t be part of it but he’s going to be a part of it one way or another. Maybe he’ll be the bass player that we take out when we go out if he’s not busy. It’s a cool thing. Me and Corey will always be doing music together, one way or another.

MI: What does 2012 look like in the life of Clint Lowery?CL: It’s a busy year, man! We’re going to do this Call Me No One record. It will probably be out May and when it’s out we’ll probably do a little bit of touring. Then in June or July, we’ll go and write and record the new Sevendust record which will probably come out in the beginning of 2013. I’m sure we’ll end up doing some kind of Sevendust tour at some point, maybe in the fall. We’re trying to take some time and really make sure we make the right Sevendust record. We want to take our time and enough of a break to where we can really build some anticipation for this because you know it could be the last one we do so we want to make it really good. You never know. I don’t want to say that, because you never know.